Apple's iPod touch tackling "networked warfare" for US military

While the British military has had a love-hate relationship with Apple's darling, the US armed forces are reportedly warming up quite well to the iPod touch. A fresh Newsweek report asserts that the touch is increasingly replacing far more expensive dedicated devices in the field, noting that it is being used to spearhead the future of "networked warfare." Equipped with a rugged shell and software developed by language translation firms (among others), the device is being used to aid communications and acquire information from databases. In fact, the US Department of Defense is "developing military software for iPods that enables soldiers to display aerial video from drones and have teleconferences with intelligence agents halfway across the globe," and snipers are already utilizing a ballistics calculator to add precision to shots. And hey, it's not like easy access to Tap Tap Revenge is really bad for morale, either.

[Via CNET]

[mgsrocks1 @ Apr 20th 2009 8:51AM]

Huh. I was wondering a message popped up saying, "Target acquired from Drone 12A. Permission to strike?" I thought it was just a game and clicked self destruct...

[OneLove @ Apr 20th 2009 10:37AM]

can you make fart noises on the touch?

[Mattvega @ Apr 20th 2009 8:52AM]

Ill join the force for a free iPod Touch!

[seacow @ Apr 20th 2009 8:52AM]

Thats one ugly app.

[sacapuntas @ Apr 20th 2009 9:20AM]

Assault on seacow's residence has been authorized. Be advised.

[Cagrino @ Apr 20th 2009 9:39AM]

Typical... form over function, glad we're not relying on you to protect this country.

[wrabbit @ Apr 20th 2009 9:54AM]

I agree that military apps shouldn't be too concerned with looks, however I also find it funny that the app uses those green/brown shades, like they're trying to camouflage it or something :D (unless of course that screenshot is just a photoshop by someone to show how they think one of those military apps might look).

[Carl @ Apr 20th 2009 10:00AM]

Thats a screen shot of an actual ballistic trajectory app. available now.

[Pat @ Apr 20th 2009 11:24AM]

You haven't seen typical military apps have you ... that's real and light years better then the usual fare.

[Harkonian @ Apr 20th 2009 3:53PM]

Cagrino: Can we not have both form and function? For such a simple app a nice UI would be easy to implement.

[Alexkass @ Apr 20th 2009 9:00AM]

super

[Shunnabunich @ Apr 20th 2009 9:13AM]

Imagine the "peripherals" these babies are gonna get when the 3.0 firmware comes out.

[Butteronaroll @ Apr 20th 2009 9:36AM]

haha yea just let the app point and shoot for you i know that will take a lot of grief off soldiers that have to kill.

[Neil @ Apr 20th 2009 9:35AM]

"and snipers are already utilizing a ballistics calculator to add precision to shots."

Snipers are using a bright shining screen to help them?! They may as well stand up and wave while they aim.

[7egend @ Apr 20th 2009 9:43AM]

You forgot to quote this:

"Equipped with a rugged shell "

[wrabbit @ Apr 20th 2009 9:55AM]

Erm, I'm guessing that they don't wave that screen around in the direction of the enemy.

[Neil @ Apr 20th 2009 10:21AM]

You don't need to wave it towards the enemy when it highlights your face. If the rugged shell covers the screen it kind of defeats the purpose. Even night scopes have to be used carefully because the eye piece can highlight the face.

[Cyclocross @ Apr 20th 2009 11:15AM]

The sniper is so far away that the screen wouldn't be visible. Keep in mind there's also glare from the optics on the rifle and spotting scope. Also the sniper doesn't use the app - shows how little you know about military snipers. The spotter uses the app.

[Paul D @ Apr 20th 2009 11:12AM]

Yeah, they're twittering while they're doing it too.

6:31 Ok I see him in my crosshairs now
6:32 Crap he walked behind a tree
6:33 Now he's in front of a stack of gas cans haha this is gonna be like the movies
6:34 WTF! I missed!! sonofa

[Pat @ Apr 20th 2009 11:27AM]

Daytime use only. Ballistic calcs are more often used by mortar crews, snipers have several cool tools.

[maveric101 @ Apr 20th 2009 11:40AM]

Cyclocross: wouldn't be too hard for enemy snipers to spot the glow at night. and spotters have to stick fairly close to their respective snipers, so the glow would still put them both at risk. though in the day it wouldn't be a problem.

[THizzle7XU @ Apr 20th 2009 12:40PM]

The US military is pretty good at what they do. I'm sure they've got the screen issue figured out dude.

[blindspot @ Apr 20th 2009 1:29PM]

Got the screen issue figured out? Light discipline is a fundamental tactical concern during night time operations. Unless they got an e-ink iPod touch, I don't see how.

[Scott @ Apr 20th 2009 9:43AM]

And so they have teleconferencing all willy-nilly and we cant?!?!?!1?!

[teej @ Apr 20th 2009 9:53AM]

remember that story about a midwestern dude buying an mp3 player that contained military documents? well, multiply that by a thousand.

[telepheedian @ Apr 20th 2009 10:19AM]

As well as a free app included that can control the football.

[Andrew @ Apr 20th 2009 1:43PM]

Eh, the man was from New Zealand...

Chris Ogle, 29, of New Zealand bought an MP3 player in February or March last year for $18 dollars at a thrift shop in Oklahoma City.

http://breach.scmagazineblogs.com/2009/01/30/thrift-shop-mp3-player-contained-us-military-documents/

[superhobo @ Apr 20th 2009 10:11AM]

Now we know why the US military seemed to do nothing useful.

[rickjamess04 @ Apr 20th 2009 10:20AM]

they should develop a matte screen to cut down on glare in the field.

[Ryan @ Apr 20th 2009 10:27AM]

So, do they broadcast wi-fi onto the battlefield so that the soldiers can view these aerial photos and video conference.

[darknesstw @ Apr 20th 2009 10:41AM]

My ipod touch crashes about twice a day. so they get to use consumer grade hardware in the military? well shit thats probably going to go down: "Enemy target, 400 meters, wind @ 3mph W, oh shit the ipod touch crashed"

[AlekZander @ Apr 20th 2009 11:11AM]

What the hell are you doing on your iPod to crash it twice a day? Mine hasn't crashed once since the 2.0 update.

[dan2600 @ Apr 20th 2009 1:27PM]

its just like how they said the military was moving to using more mac systems because they are "more secure." the security is human error, the military still uses proprietary technology in the field, my friend was over in Iraq for 2 years and never touched a mac. However offices are still part of the military, and these offices are filled with people would download spyware and other human error security flaws that can be contracted by using windows improperly.

Tons of soliders have their ipods on them while in the field...music makes the time go by faster, so if your music player can also have some useful tools built into it, why the hell not. The military is not however replacing technology with consumer products as you are implying.

[Benjamin Heckendorn @ Apr 20th 2009 10:57AM]

"Have you ever wanted to invade a small country? Well, there's an app for that..."

[mabhatter @ Apr 20th 2009 1:50PM]

I'm a PC used on important ships!

I'm a mac they use me too (starts aiming on iPod)

I'm a PC... (ship stops to reboot Winodws targeting systems)

.....

[johdaxx @ Apr 20th 2009 11:33AM]

Heh - I suppose the US Military can get their new apps through the Apple store -- "Hey, are we approved yet? We need this app released so we can go blow some people up!"

'Cause, of course we know that jailbreaking the iHardware is illegal... ;)

[dan2600 @ Apr 20th 2009 12:03PM]

hahha was about to post the same thing.

[Andrew @ Apr 20th 2009 1:45PM]

You don't know much about developing apps for the iPhone/iPod obviously.

If you want to distribute the app to the world you need approval and the iTunes store, but you can easily transfer to local iPhones/iPods without jailbreak or approval!!!

[Richard @ Apr 20th 2009 12:42PM]

Not every piece of equipment has to be useful in every situation. Obviously, it would take a special kind of idiot to out in the open at night. OTOH, that's not the only mission for snipers. Daytime urban countersniping, for one. Besides, if you set up your range card, there's less adjustments you might have to do later. Just from looking at the screenshots of all the ballistics apps on iTunes, they look a hell of a lot easier to use that most other device+ballistics computer out there. Like that 5.11 watch computer. Thing is an unbelievable pain in the ass to use.

[Pat @ Apr 20th 2009 12:52PM]

Are we allowed to post job requests on here?

[Noah @ Apr 20th 2009 1:34PM]

Finally, the military making a smart move and finding a great tool at low cost! Some tools can come off the shelf, while others....not so much.

No, I'm not an armchair critic. I'm in the Navy Reserve. Navy has had a terrible time getting boats built without huge run-away costs.

[bbasso @ Apr 20th 2009 1:46PM]

A research group at Berkeley is working on this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRcld5aAN2E

http://c3uv.berkeley.edu/

[Daniel @ Apr 20th 2009 2:22PM]

I use that app on my iphone and like it.

[SpydaKat 17 @ Apr 20th 2009 7:19PM]

Are you a sniper?

[tuna @ Apr 20th 2009 7:01PM]

I see a follow-up post... something like: "Top ten playlist for SEAL snipers while taking out pirates."

[Phil @ Apr 20th 2009 7:36PM]

This is a great idea, they can also have no-identifying pictures and videos of family, music and approved 'game' applications, the battery would have to be removable and for night time viewing they could have a dedicated switch on the side that changes the displays colours, similar to the silent switch on the iphone. The ipod would also have to be water-resistant, the ipod should also have 2 passwords to turn it on, a simple password for basic functions and a more complex password for all the functions, this way if a soldier is compromised, they can give the basic password and not compromise all the sensitive material on the ipod.

[james @ Apr 20th 2009 11:16PM]

I would like that function of 2 passwords on my itouch also, I dont have anything to hide but it would be neat when a teacher takes it away and i give them the password to view the ipod function and thats it.

[Tankut @ Apr 20th 2009 10:01PM]

Sure, I can see an artilleryman taking off his gloves for the capacitative screen every time. Maybe specially tipped gloves for i-touching?

On the other hand it looks way too pretty to be a "military app" - I was under the notion that all military hardware was ugly, way too expensive and all painted the same color. Ah well, I was apparently mistaken.

[D.Sneed @ Apr 21st 2009 10:29PM]

I thought the consumer market was driven by the defense market.

[info @ Jun 14th 2009 10:49AM]

Interesting article about Apple's iPod touch tackling networked warfare for US military. I wonder what kind of security measures are the military taking to ensure the data is encrypted.
http://www.ipod-repair-guide.com